Oxfordshire suffered a second successive Middleton Cup trial defeat as they went down 112-104 to Gloucestershire at Oxford City & County.

As in the previous weekend’s 125-106 reverse against North-amptonshire, Oxon tried out various new player combinations, with newcomers playing alongside experienced campaigners.

Skip Mark Charlett made it two wins from two with a completely different rink of Jon Philpott, Chris Weller and Jason King to beat Lee Williamson’s four 20-13.

Next door, Paul Sharman’s side of Shane Cooper, Will Campion and Gordon Walker went down 22-20 to Dave Howes after slipping behind in the middle of their game.

Barry Lambourne’s four of Dean May, Ian Henwood and Andy Martin withstood a strong finish from skip John Roach to edge home 20-19.

But, on the next two rinks, Mark Sykes and Calvin Carpenter experienced defeats.

Sykes’s side of Ade Kemish, Gary May and Richard Redford were beaten 23-15 by Paul Bryant, while Carpenter’s quartet of Rob Pink, Sammy Timms and Robbie Clanfield went down 19-14 to Chris Davies.

On the end rink, Ian Snowdon’s four of Mick Nash, Chris Earl and Nathan Lewis trailed by ten shots after ten ends, but fought back to lose only 16-15 to Rob Griffiths.

A number of Oxon players will have a final chance to impress in the Home Counties League opener against Surrey at South Oxford on Saturday, before the team is named for the Middleton Cup clash against Middlesex at Bush Hill Park on Saturday, June 1.

Oxfordshire 104, Gloucestershire 112

(Oxon rinks first)

Rink 1: J Philpott, C Weller, J King, M Charlett 20, V Wilks, N Kitchen, N Lansdale, L Williamson 13.

Rink 2: S Cooper, W Campion, G Walker, P Sharman 20, S Townsend, M Prosser, M Woodbridge, D Howes 22.

Rink 3: D May, I Henwood, A Martin, B Lambourne 20, B Coldrick, T Trent, K Hinder, J Roach 19.

Rink 4: A Kemish, G May, R Redford, M Sykes 15, N Charlwood, R Bird, M Cuthbert, P Bryant 23.

Rink 5: R Pink, S Timms, Ro Clanfield, C Carpenter 14, A Smith, J Daniels, C Roach, C Davies 19.

Rink 6: M Nash, C Earl, N Lewis, I Snowdon 15, S Trent, S Munro, M Clark, R Griffiths 16.